Society’s Dilemma: Dominant vs. Subdominant Groups

Society’s Dilemma: Dominant vs. Subdominant Groups As human beings evolved into an intelligent species, organized civilizations came into existence. As these civilizations grew into more intricate societies, their inhabitants began to form separate groups. Eventually, these groups divided the population into two basic categories: the dominant and the subdominant. Often, the dominant group represented the majority of the population. These divisions of the population brought about turmoil within the society that in some cases, led to war and bloodshed. In other cases, the dominant group was so much more powerful than the subdominant group that the minorities’ voice in society was completely silenced. These divisions that emerged in human civilizations thousands of years ago still exist in our modern society, and they affect many parts of our everyday lives. Many people would argue that society would be far better off without dominant groups. These individuals would argue that without a dominant group in control of society, life would be more just for everyone. This however, is not always the case. In reality, this is never the case. The fact is, utopian societies exist only in works of fiction. It is in human nature for the powerful to oppress the weak. Dominant individuals will always seek to govern the masses, and in the majority of scenarios, human greed overpowers justice. A famous German philosopher, known as Karl Marx, intently studied these aspects of human society. He identified the major problem facing every society in the twentieth century: the weak had no voice in society, and were therefore treated unjustly. Marx came to the realization that there were essentially only two kinds of people in every society. A person is either a “have” or a “have not”. The “haves” are the educated elite portion of the population who govern society and control the masses. On the other hand, the “have-nots” are basically the bottom portion of the social hierarchy, although this group often represents the vast majority of the population. These non-dominant individuals are essentially at the mercy of the elite. Marx sought to eliminate these major divisions in the way societies are governed. He developed a system that he believed would bring social order to civilizations across the globe. This system would come to be known as socialism. Today, we now know that although it looks like a perfect plan on paper, socialism simply does not work. The plan Marx developed did not take into account that human greed will always present itself. Although he envisioned a society in which everyone fairly shared everything, he did not realize that the dominant group will still always seek to take advantage of the weak. At the time of his research, little did Marx know that his social system would go on to only further oppress the weak in many parts of the world. Fortunately for us, our democratic society also seeks to provide a voice for everyone. The difference is that a democracy accepts the fact that every society needs the dominant to guide the weak and uneducated. Democracy gives every person the power to choose and elect those that they believe are worthy to lead. Although our system of democracy works better than Marx’s socialism, it is still not perfect. The dominant groups still control the masses, and the minority groups are often oppressed and silenced. However, through tireless efforts, they may voice their opinions and hope to one day gain more control. Utopian societies will never come into existence in human civilizations. Built into every person’s DNA is the instinct to seize the opportunity for one’s own gain. This often comes to mean that the powerful take advantage of the weak. Although we can attempt to lessen the gap between the dominant and subdominant groups, they will always co-exist on separate levels of the social hierarchy. To ask if society would be better off with dominant or subdominant groups would be to deny the fact that one cannot exist without the other. Society as a whole should seek to give every person an equal opportunity to express his or her opinion. By giving every person a voice in our society, we move one step closer to achieving a world where injustice is a thing of the past.